Rangers' Darvish to have Tommy John surgery

Posted: March 14, 2015

Baseball

* Texas Rangers ace righthander Yu Darvish said yesterday he will have Tommy John surgery on Tuesday.

Renowned surgeon James Andrews was the last of three doctors to review images of the 28-year-old's elbow, following Rangers team physician Keith Meister and New York Mets medical director David Altchek. The ligament-replacement surgery likely will sideline Darvish until early 2016.

An MRI last week revealed a partially torn ligament and inflammation after Darvish felt tightness in his triceps while warming up for his spring training debut. He threw 10 of 12 pitches for strikes in his only inning before telling anyone about the discomfort.

An All-Star in each of his three seasons since arriving from Japan, Darvish started last season on the disabled list after experiencing neck stiffness in spring training. He missed only one start then, and was 10-7 with a 3.06 ERA in 22 starts and made his final appearance on Aug. 9 because of elbow inflammation.

* Having finalized a contract for a record $31.5 million signing bonus, 19-year-old Cuban Yoan Moncada likely will start his minor league career at Greenville, of the Class A South Atlantic League, the Red Sox announced.

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* Nationals closer Drew Storen had surgery to remove part of a bone in his left, nonpitching wrist and is expected to be ready for Opening Day.

NFL

* The Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger reached agreement on a new, 5-year contract that could keep him in black-and-gold for the rest of the decade and almost certainly the remainder of his already remarkable career.

* Free-agent Raiders running back Darren McFadden signed a 2-year deal with the Cowboys that is work reportedly up to $5.9 million. He replaces DeMarco Murray, who just signed with the Eagles.

* With two trades, the Dolphins swapped receivers: Kenny Stills for Mike Wallace. First the Dolphins obtained Stills from New Orleans for veteran linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and a 2015 third-round draft pick. The deal made the disgruntled Wallace expendable, and Miami later traded him and a seventh-round draft pick to Minnesota for a fifth-round draft pick, the Associated Press reported.

NHL

* Blackhawks forward Joakim Nordstrom was suspended for two games without pay for boarding Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson during a game Thursday.

NBA

* Pacers two-time All-Star Paul George is putting this weekend's comeback plan on ice, but is still mulling a return later in the season. He ran into a basket stanchion, gruesomely snapping his right leg in two places Aug. 1 in Las Vegas.

Boxing

* Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will take on Willie Monroe Jr. in his next fight on May 16 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Unable to land a bout with WBC champion Miguel Cotto or other big-name stars, Golovkin (32-0, 29 KOs) settled for Monroe (19-1, 6 KOs), a little-known fighter from upstate New York with nine consecutive wins and the great-nephew of former Philadelphia middleweight contender Willie "The Worm" Monroe.

Golf

* Tiger Woods will not be at Bay Hill next week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the second tournament he has missed since stating a month ago that he would not return to golf until his game was ready.

Woods still wasn't ruling out the Masters in a brief statement yesterday on his website. "I've put in a lot of time and work on my game and I'm making strides," Woods said. "But like I've said, I won't return to the PGA Tour until my game is tournament ready and I can compete at the highest level."

* Brendon de Jonge held a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Ryan Moore, Kevin Streelman and Derek Ernst afte two rounds of the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla. Charley Hoffman's round was interrupted while a 10-foot alligator walked on the fairway.

* Spain's Adrian Otaegui shot an 8-under 62 at Pretoria Country Club to take a two-shot lead in the European PGA Tour's Tshwane Open in Pretoria, South Africa.

* Defending champ Inbee Park held a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Ladies European Tour's World Ladies Championship in Haikou, China.